Goals Set; Worked Toward, and Achieved!

This last Saturday, our daughter-in-law, Andreana, got up very early to take part in our Santa Barbara International Marathon and Half Marathon. She ran the half-marathon. In the last few months, she has gone from absolutely no running experience, to where she now runs on a regular basis.

Early in the spring, at the age of 42, with 3 small children, she set a goal of getting healthier and more physically active, and began to make regular movements toward her goal. She started out with running for very short periods of time, interspersed with walking.

As time went on, her running was for increased periods of time, and for longer distances. This was all very new for her, but she kept at it. She kept gaining strength and improving her endurance. She made it a priority, and just continued taking steps forward. On Saturday, she celebrated her own personal victory of completing a half marathon — 13.1 miles!

Two of my three sons have run marathons, and I’m just as proud of them, as I am of her! My third son has set and achieved other wonderful goals. I’ve been equally proud of him! What I think is so great is that they each decided on a goal, worked diligently toward it, and achieved what they set out to do.

We can all do that! It doesn’t matter what our goals are. It only matters that we decide to move toward a desired outcome — and that we follow through. What goals do you have? Do you want to learn a language, eat healthier, become more active, learn to play a musical instrument…? Whatever you’ve dreamed of doing, or whatever you know you really need to do differently, set an intention, plan the steps to reach your goal, and begin your journey!

Believe in yourself! Build a support network! Keep moving in the direction you’ve chosen! And, in time, you will create your own victories!

Absolutely, Patricia! That’s why I wrote the post, to highlight her achievement, and to encourage others to make whatever changes they want/need to make. I agree, it was a fantastic accomplishment! Thank you for adding your congratulations!!

Congratulations to your daughter on setting a goal that she succeeded in meeting. I’m sure training for a half marathon is not easy, especially with no prior running experience. And it is so inspirational that your children have achieved what they’ve set their mind to. Nothing is impossible!

I’ll pass your congratulations on to my daughter-in-law, Lisa. She put a lot of time and energy into her training. Actually, though, she didn’t start running with the half marathon in mind. She started with the desire to get healthier and more active, and she totally succeeded in that! The half marathon was just icing on the cake. : ) Isn’t it great when our “kids” can inspire us?!

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Linda Menesez, MSW, LCSW

Linda Menesez, MSW, LCSW has been a psychotherapist since 1996. Her deep empathy for what her clients are going through comes from personal experience. One of her joys is helping people find their way to a healthier, happier life, where they break through their limitations and see their uniqueness and potential.